EVM3: Estimating and possibilities

 

Last evening, I was all lost in thoughts of proceeding my new project. This is not the first time I am handling a project, but there is a difference. Since I got my Project Management Certification, I always wanted to  handle a project which meets the international standards of project management. I thought of various procedures I have to choose from, since it’s the project manager and team that has to decide which suits a specific project.

I reached office early and started looking at the contract documents. It’s a cost plus contract.

We started our discussion with people talking about scope of the project.

From the Statement of work / BOQ, we created a WBS Dictionary (braking down high level definition of our project into actual pieces of work to be done to achieve that final result) and started doing bottom up estimation for each item / activity.

My team gave me ready answers with cost estimation for doing a WBS items. But I stopped them and asked “ so you think what ever is going to happen, the cost we arrived at is going to be same”

After a silence, every one looked with a slight smile on their faces which meant “no” to my question.

 

I said “so lets start working on realities. Lets consider risk factors, so in the worst case, what it is going to take, for each of the item that we attached cost”

Finance guy said “expenses are going to shoot up, may be a bit if not too much”

ME: “yes, so lets take it into consideration”

One of the team members quoted “ I think we are trying to be realistic, but we ended up being pessimistic”

 

I said, “no, we are not even close to the end” and I saw disappointment . I guess they wanted to finish this meeting soon.

I continued “so lets consider the best possibilities too, lets put the cost when circumstances are in our favor”

Now we have three columns 1. Worst case cost, 2. Usually what it costs 3.Best case cost.

One of the junior members in my team asked “ are we going to take the average of all three”

Well its not just his question, every one there is expecting to do the same.

ME; “yah that’s one way of doing it, but don’t you think that’s very crude way of doing it?”

He gave an “yes” gesture to my sentence.

I said, “lets do three point estimation, Lets go with formula”

Expected Cost = (Worst Case cost + 4 x Most likely Cost + Best case Cost ) / 6

My plant and Machinery head raised a point, “ I remember reading this formula and how to derive it from distributions etc etc, but that seemed too good to be useful in real life, how is it going give us that extra edge.. I would rather go with average, in our case that’s a three point estimate too”

Everyone started giving him affirmation.

I heard someone saying “ Lets take a break, its been 30 min of brain storming for bookish stats”

I should first convince my team why we should go with PERT than just average. Most Importantly I shouldn’t bore them with “bookish Statistics” as someone just mentioned.

I said “ ok lets catch a cup of coffee and come back in 10 min.”

EVM2 : The Story Begins.. Starting the Project

I was driving through my city’s traffic, hoping to reach my office on time, when my Black Berry screen flashed “ Bharani Calling “

My heart beat skipped for second. She is the most beautiful girl at our office. If she were not daughter cum assistant to my boss, in my strong matrix organization,  I would  have asked her out, and would have done everything I could, to make date me.

I answered call “ Hi Bharani, good morning” though I wanted to say “hi sweetheart”

Bharani: “ hi Srik, good morning.. where are you ? late to office??”

ME: “ almost there, anything important?”

Bharani: “ Boss is waiting for you.. don’t you remember.. you will have to start working on Aliens Space towers building project”

Trying to recollect anything other than those four pegs of Black Dog Whisky I had last night, I said “ oh yah, I do remember..”

Bharani: “ ok that’s great.. see you then”

She hung up the call. I always wonder if a time ever comes when she says “love you baby” at the end of every call.

I went straight to my cubicle not looking at my boss, Mr.Sunil or his young, pretty, beautiful, sexy, the most eligible lady and his daughter cum assistant Miss.Bharani.

Mr Sunil came to me casually walking

ME: “ hi sir, good morning”

Mr Sunil: with a half smile on his face as reply to my good morning, said “ We have a meeting at 11’o clock along with the client representative. Remember you are going to be the project manager for that project. its your baby. be realistic with schedules and cost”

ME: wishing he had told my baby is yours “sure sir, I will give my best”

We sat together at the meeting along the representative and prepared the project charter. I could only imagine the amount of work that I will have to do in the days to come. That thought by itself made me not to notice the beautiful face of Bharani, who just came to inform something to her Dad cum Boss.

I called up my HR Head in the noon and we ended up in formulating the project team, after a long discussion.

Its 5 in the evening now and I am lost in thoughts of creating schedules and thinking of my tomorrows work regarding budgets and laying path for Earned Value management for my project.

The best thing that could relax me is having a cup of hot coffee along with the daughter of my boss, though I only have one in my hands among those and you can easily guess what it is.

I had sent a formal mail to all the people who are now my “project team” saying that we have a Kick-Off-Meeting tomorrow at 10am and also that we will be formulating schedule and budget.

 

 

Go to Ppevious post in the EVM Series

Now that I really have a meeting, I will have to stop blogging and go for it… :)

- Sreekanth

LiveJournal Tags: project,starting,charter,management,earned,value

EVM1 : So you think you never knew ‘Earned Value Management’ and PM?

Welcome to the first post in the series of ‘ Earned Value Analysis’ and Project Management

If you are someone who thinks your answer to the above question is “YES”, or somewhere in between Yes and No, I am here to make you confidently say “NO”

So Lets get started..

Every one of us are working on projects (not necessarily with the title ‘project manager’) and to that matter, I always am on my toes to argue that every thing we do in our lives and jobs is like a “Project”. Let it be building a home / software application, cooking a dish, dropping your kids to school, and even any production process can be viewed as a project when you split it.

So when you are working on a project, the obvious questions that you should ask are

1. What and how much of works should I be doing; when and how much should it cost me?

2.What is the value of work that is done and what is the actual money that I had spent on it?

3.Where is my project likely to end up, if I continue the way I am doing it now?

These questions should flick in any average humans mind, and if you are one of them, you are already doing Earned Value Management (EVM), but, may not be in the name of ‘EVM’

By now you should be clear that the term ‘ Earned Value Management’ is only a nice name given to what you are already doing. Its only on a different terminology.

Lets get started and see what’s earned value analysis and how to co-relate it to what you are actually doing.

Through-out this series I will be using “Building a building’ as my project, just to make it sound more realistic and professional, than using projects like “cooking pumpkin gravy” or “buying banana chips”

We will be talking a bit if not much about project management. though I am exposed to PM and EVM for considerable amount of time, Humans do mistakes. I will try not to be a human and avoid errors, but in case if you find any errors or feel there is a better way of presenting, I would love your comments.

- Sreekanth

Go to next page 

LiveJournal Tags: Earned,Value,management,Analysis,cost,project,confused

In Memoriam :Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)

 

 

Don’t let trivial matters of life hold you back, your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's Life. “– Steve Jobs

IPod, a must have music gadget introduced me its creator “Steve Jobs,” a creative genius who made difference to the whole world technology. People are fan for his inventions or his values or the way he takes/lead his life. I was very much inspired by his outstanding speech 'How to live before you die' at Stanford University on 12 June, 2005.

Steve  born to an unwed mother, adopted by parents who didn’t even go to college, got fired from his own company, and fought with worst possible form of cancer, despite of all ups & downs in his life, he made remarkable place in the world of technology with his awesome inventions.

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life” - Steve Jobs

He never thought small or big, but just lived life with pride for all decisions he made. I bow for his passion in life.

Once Steve said “I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates”, shows his simplicity as a human being 

 

Steve Jobs may not be with us in physical form, but his inventions and the values stay with us forever. He is a person who taught the world about the burning desire and the commitment to achieve it.

He will  remain in our  hearts and will be alive in form of his achievements.

 

We miss you "Mr Steve Jobs"

Rest in peace

 

 

Telangana for Dummies

Andhra Pradesh (AP) is the fifth largest State in the Indian Union having an area of 2,75,000 sq. km.sq. kms and a population of about 84,655,533. Andhra Pradesh consists of three distinct regions, namely, Andhra, Rayalaseema, and Telangana. Andhra and Rayalaseema were part of Madras province of the British Empire. For approximately 400 years, Telangana was part of Hyderabad State, an independent kingdom ruled by Muslim Qutub Shahi and Nizam dynasties.

In 1953, Andhra and Rayalaseema were separated from Madras State. Later Andhra merged with Telangana in 1956, based on their linguistic and national affinity, to form the present state of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad as the capital city. However, this has resulted in two major agitations: Jai Telangana in 1969 and Jai Andhra 1972, both for separate states.

Why Telangana Movement started?

Proponents of a separate Telangana state feel that the agreements, plans, and assurances from the legislature and Lok Sabha over the last fifty years have not been honoured, and as a consequence Telangana has remained neglected, exploited, and backward, perceived injustices in the distribution of water, budget allocations, and jobs.

They allege that the experiment to remain as one state has proven to be a futile exercise and that separation is the best solution

Chronology of Telangana Agitation

1969 Telangana Agitation

In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. All the Andhra employees who migrated to capital city in 1956 will become local in 1969 after 12years of residence per mulki rules. One section of students (which appeared dominant) want separate state other want implementation of safeguards.

1972 Jai Andhra Movement

Under the Mulki rules in force at the time, anyone who had lived in Hyderabad for 15 years was considered a local, and was thus eligible for certain government posts. When the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki rules at the end of 1972, the Jai Andhra movement, with the aim of re-forming a separate state of Andhra, was started in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.P. V. Narasimha Rao resigned as Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh on 10 January 1973, and President's rule was declared in the state.

Six-Point Formula of 1973

On 21 September 1973, a political settlement was reached with the Government of India with a Six-Point Formula. It was agreed upon by the leaders of the two regions to prevent any recurrence of such agitations in the future.

Movement in 1990–2004

In 1997, the state unit of the BJP passed a resolution seeking a separate Telangana. It could not create a separate Telangana state because of lack of consensus with the Telugu Desam Party, which extended outside support to its government at the centre.

A new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), was formed in 2001 with the single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital

2004 to 2009

For the 2004 Assembly and Parliament elections, the Congress party and the TRS had an electoral alliance in the Telangana region that promised a separate Telangana State. Congress came to power in the state and formed a coalition government at the centre; TRS joined the coalition and was successful in making a separate Telangana state a part of the common minimum programme of the coalition government. In April 2006 the then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy categorically said that the state would remain united. In September 2006 TRS withdrew support from the coalition government because of their failure to deliver on their promise to create an independent Telangana state

In June 2008, Tulla Devender Goud, a politbureau member and Deputy Leader of the Telugu Desam Party, resigned from the party, saying he would devote his time and energy to the formation of a separate Teelangana state. In July 2008, Goud and other leaders such as E. Peddi Reddy formed a new party called Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP)

On 9 October 2008 the TDP announced its support for the creation of Telangana.

Konda Laxman Bapuji of the Nava Telangana Party announced that "We solemnly declare statehood for Telangana on November 2, 2008."

In the year 2009

In February 2009 the state government declared that it had no objection, in principle, to the formation of separate Telangana and that the time had come to move forward decisively on this issue. To resolve related issues, the government constituted a joint house committee.

In the lead-up to the 2009 General Elections in India, all the major parties in Andhra Pradesh supported the formation of Telangana. The Telugu Desam Party promised to work for Telangana statehood. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) joined a Mahakutami ("grand alliance") with the TDP and other parties to defeat the Congress party for denying statehood

The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), founded in August 2008 by film star Chiranjeevi, pledged support to Telangana statehood if it becomes inevitableThe Nava Telangana Praja Party announced that it would merge with PRP after it concluded that there was not enough political space for two sub-regional Telangana parties that had Telananga statehood as their main agenda, Devender Goud later quit PRP and returned to the Telugu Desam Party.

In the 2009 elections, Congress returned to power both at the center and state.

On 29 November 2009 TRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) started a fast-unto-death, demanding that the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament. The apparent decline in KCR's health led to a sense of urgency to the issue

On 12 February, the central government announced Terms of Reference to the Srikrishna Committee, with a deadline of 31 December 2010. The SKC compiled information which indicates that between 30 November 2009 and 27 February 2010, 313 Telangana people committed suicide over the delay in the formation of Telangana state

In a report submitted to the Srikrishna Committee, ministers from Seema-Andhra region stated that the demand for separate Telangana under grounds of self-respect and self-rule is anti-national and will sow seeds for disintegration of the country. They said that all the districts of Telangana were well-developed between 1992 and the present. This statement evoked strong protests in Telangana and demands for the dismissal of those ministers. In a report dated 9 August, the central government declared 13 districts in AP are backward, and 9 out of 10 Telangana districts are backward

On 16 December 2010, two weeks before the deadline for the submission of the Srikrishna report, TRS organized a public meeting in Warangal. It was estimated that 1.2 to 1.5 million people attended this meeting.

The Srikrishna committee on Telangana submitted its report in two volumes to the Home Ministry of India on 30 December 2010. The home Ministry announced that it would hold talks with all eight recognized political parties of Andhra Pradesh on 6 January 2011 and make the report public on the same day.

Telangana Non-cooperation movement and Million march of Feb-March 2011

On February 17, 2011 noncooperation movement was started and it last for 16days which was participated by 300,000 government employees and caused Rs 8 billion per day in revenue to government

In February and March, Assembly session was boycotted for weeks and Parliament session was disrupted for several days by Telangana representatives.

Miilion March was organized by Telangana JAC in Hyderabad on March 10, 2010.

In a unique form of protest, people from all walks of life came together on Hyderabad's roads on June 19 on a call given by Telangana JAC for 'vanta vaarpu' or a cook-and-eat agitation to demand a separate Telangana state. While various groups made arrangements on a massive scale for cooking food on roads, families set up small kitchens with gas stoves.

Resignations of almost all Telangana representatives

On July 4, 2011 as many as 81 of 119 Telangana MLAs in the state, 12 out of 15 Telangana ministers in state.

On July 5, MLAs from TRS(11), BJP(2), CPI(4), Congress(2) resigned took the total of Telangna MLAs resigned to 100 out of 118(1 vacant). As part of the 2 day bandh declared by the JAC in Telangana region, agitators stopped IT professionals from attending work in some instances.

On July 11, 200 Telangana students started indefinite hunger strike protesting the delay in Telangana state formation. On July 13 and 14, resigned Telangana Congress representatives(MPs, MLAs, MLCs) were on hunger strike due to their party's central leadership's silence on Telangana issue even after their resignations

All People's strike

ON September 12, 2011, a day before Sakala Janula Samme(All people's strike), TRS organized a public meeting in Karimnagar which was attended by Telangana JAC leaders, BJP and New Democracy party leaders. Over million people attended the meeting.

On September 19, state road transport corporation employees and state electricity board employees in Telangana joined the indefinite strike.

Virtually all sections of people joined this strike. On September 30, as the strike enter 18th day, even while Congress central leadership meeting several Telangana congress leaders, JAC called a bundh in Hyderabad city

KCR to 'Fast Unto Death' from October 2nd,2011

P.S:“What is Telangana movement?” a question raised by my neighbor( who is American) this morning provoked me to write this blog post. I have complied this post from various internet sources, kindly if there are any errors you are free to correct them.

Compiled from 

http://ourtelangana.com/content/telangana-movement-history 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Telangana_Agitation

http://ourtelangana.com/content/telangana-movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telangana_movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telangana